It’s been many weeks since the tournament debut of Flamvell Baby, Flamvell Archer, and Flamvell Grunika in Hidden Arsenal 2 and Duelist Revolution, but until now we haven’t seen a Duelist take them into Championship-level competition.  That streak has come to an end here this weekend though, as Pongyue Moua is playing all 3 of those cards in his Flamvell Deck.  But his opponent this round is innovating as well!  Daniel Joy is playing a Scrap Deck with Gigantes, The Tricky, and more surprises.  Get ready for a tremendous Feature Match!

Joy opened the Match with a handshake: he Summoned Scrap Chimera and Set 2 Spell or Trap Cards.

Moua had a hand of Mirror Force, Flamvell Magician, Book of Moon, Monster Reborn, Dark Hole, and Flamvell Firedog.  He Summoned Firedog, attacked, and Joy activated Scrapstorm: he targeted his Scrap Chimera, sent Scrap Beast to his Graveyard, drew a card, and destroyed his Scrap Chimera.  Moua then made a direct attack off the replay for 1900 Battle Damage.  He Set Book of Moon and Mirror Force to end his turn.

Joy Summoned another Scrap Chimera: he targeted Scrap Beast with its effect, and Moua Chained Book of Moon to turn Chimera face-down.  Joy brought back his first Chimera with Monster Reborn, Tuned it to Scrap Beast, and Synchro Summoned Scrap Dragon! (4+4=8)  He activated the Dragon’s effect with priority, targeted his opponent’s Mirror Force and his own face-down Chimera, and destroyed both.  He Set a second Spell or Trap Card before attacking over Flamvell Firedog to destroy it.

Moua drew another Firedog.  He activated Dark Hole to destroy Scrap Dragon, and Joy used the Dragon’s effect to Special Summon back his Chimera.  Monster Reborn Special Summoned the Scrap Dragon to Moua’s side of the field, and he Normal Summoned Flamvell Firedog: as he tried to enter his Battle Phase Joy stopped him with Threatening Roar.  In Main Phase 2 Moua activated Scrap Dragon’s effect to destroy his Firedog and the opposing Chimera.

Joy activated Pot of Duality next turn, revealing Gold Sarcophagus, Scrap Beast, and Book of Moon from the top of his Deck: he chose to add Scrap Beast to his hand.  He Set a monster.

Moua drew Mystical Space Typhoon: he activated it to destroy Joy’s Ultimate Offering, then Normal Summoned Flamvell Magician, his last card.  The Magician attacked to destroy Scrap Beast, and Scrap Dragon made a direct attack for 2800 Battle Damage.  The Duel stood at 3000 Life Points to 7100, with Moua leading.

Joy removed Scrap Chimera from his Graveyard to Special Summon Gigantes, then discarded 1 copy of The Tricky to Special Summon another in Defense Position.  Gigantes attacked to destroy Flamvell Magician.

Moua drew Necro Gardna, a great combo with his pilfered Scrap Dragon!  He Summoned Gardna, activated the Dragon’s effect to destroy The Tricky, and ran over Gigantes in battle.

Joy removed 1 Gigantes to Special Summoned another in Defense Position.

Moua drew Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Set it, and destroyed it and the Gigantes with Scrap Dragon.  The Dragon made a direct attack, and it was all over!  Moua captured the first Duel.  Play quickly proceeded to the second.

Joy started Duel 2 by Setting 3 Spell or Trap Cards, then a monster.

Moua had a hand of Flamvell Archer, Mind Control, Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Flamvell Firedog, and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.  He activated Mind Control to take his opponent’s Scrap Beast, Flip Summoned it, and Normal Summoned Flamvell Archer.  He attacked with the Archer, Set Wind Blast, and handed back the Beast.

Joy activated Trap Stun next turn, then Summoned Scrap Chimera to Tune it to Scrap Beast for Scrap Dragon. (4+4=8)  He activated Monster Reborn, brought back Scrap Beast, and attacked over Flamvell Archer to destroy it.  Scrap Beast made a direct attack.

Moua drew Mystical Space Typhoon.  He Set it, then Set Ryko.

Joy activated Scrapyard, and Moua Chained Phoenix Wing Wind Blast, discarding Flamvell Firedog to spin Scrap Dragon back to Joy’s Extra Deck.  Joy got Scrap Goblin from his Deck to his hand when Scrapyard resolved, and he attacked into Ryko with Scrap Beast: the Beast was destroyed, and Moua sent Effect Veiler, Solemn Warning, and Giant Trunade to the Graveyard from the top of his Deck.  Joy Set a monster, ended, and lost his Solemn Warning to Mystical Space Typhoon.

Charge of the Light Brigade sent Monster Reborn, Cyber Dragon, and Rekindling to Moua’s Graveyard, getting him another Ryko.  He Set Ryko and ended his turn, left with nothing but his Gorz in hand.

Joy Summoned Card Trooper, sent Scrap Goblin, Pot of Duality, and Threatening Roar to his Graveyard to power it up to 1900 ATK, and Flip Summoned Scrap Goblin to Tune it to Trooper.  That let him Synchro Summon Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, (3+3=6) and he discarded his last card, Gigantes, to bounce away Ryko.  He made a direct attack, Moua tried to Special Summon Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, and Joy negated the Summon with Solemn Warning!

Moua had just 2300 Life Points left: he drew Flamvell Magician.  No help there! He Set it, but lost to a direct attack from Brionac next turn anyways.  Were were headed to 1 more Duel!

“I had a couple misplays in there,” remarked Joy.

“I misplayed the first round” confessed Moua.

“I misplayed the second round!” laughed Joy.  “This is my first YCS, actually.”

“Hey, mine too!”  Both competitors were undefeatd here in Round 5 of their very first Championship-level tournament.  But for 1 of them, that was about to change.

Moua’s opening hand was Necro Gardna, Royal Oppression, Solemn Warning, Gorz the Emissary of Darkness, Torrential Tribute, and Phoenix Wing Wind Blast.  He Set Wind Blast.

Joy activated Scrapyard to get Scrap Goblin from his Deck, Summoned Card Trooper, and sent Scrap Chimera, Book of Moon, and Dark Desertapir to his Deck from his Graveyard to boost its ATK to 1900.  He attacked with it, but it was spun away with Wind Blast as Moua discarded Necro Gardna.  Joy Set a Spell or Trap.

Moua Normal Summoned Flamvell Magician and attacked for 1400 Battle Damage.  He Set Torrential Tribute.

Joy Sumoned Trooper again, sending The Tricky, Scrap Goblin, and another Scrap Chimera to the Graveyard.  Moua activated Torrrential Tribute, destroying his own monster, Trooper, and giving Joy a free draw with Trooper’s effect.  Joy Set a Spell or Trap.

Moua Summoned Flamvell Magician and tried to attack – he was stopped by Threatening Roar.

Joy Summoned Scrap Beast and attacked to destroy Flamvell Magician.

Moua drew Mind Control and Set Solemn Warning.  With his Gorz in-hand, Setting Warning was a risk.

Sure enough, Joy activated Trap Stun, Normal Summoned another Scrap Beast, and removed Dark Desertapir to Special Summon Gigantes (remember: Dark Desertapir’s effect doesn’t activate in this situation because it misses the timing).  He attacked with Gigantes, Necro Gardna blocked, and Moua took 3200 Battle Damage from the pair of Scrap Beasts.  In Main Phase 2, Joy Tuned 1 Scrap Beast to Gigantes to bring out Scrap Dragon, then used the Dragon to destroy his Scrap Beast and Moua’s Set Solemn Warning.  The destruction of Scrap Beast let Joy return his Scrap Chimera to his hand.

Moua activated Dark Hole next turn, leaving Joy to Special Summon back his Scrap Beast with Scrap Dragon’s effect.  If he’d activated Mind Control to take the Dragon instead, he could’ve destroyed it and Joy’s remaining card, without giving him a Special Summon.  Moua realized his mistake a moment too late and ended his turn.

Next turn Joy Summoned Scrap Chimera, Special Summoned Scrap Beast, and had a combined 4900 ATK on the field.  He had just enough ATK to finish off Moua’s remaining 4800 Life Points, and the Match was over!

“I misplayed,” moaned Moua. “Why did I Dark Hole that Dragon when I had Mind Control?”  Moua offered the handshake.  Daniel Joy moves on with a 5-0 record, undefeated with GiganteScraps!

Post-Event Analysis!
See what our panel of experts had to say about this Duel after the event was over. 

Jason Grabher-Meyer (The Old Man of Dueling)
When you’re up against an explosive Deck with huge combos like Flamvells, Threatening Roar can be a game-saving card.  Joy played it in his Main Deck, and he used it to stop what would have been 4700 Battle Damage in Duel 1. But in Duel 3, Joy used Roar again, this time blocking a paltry 1400 Battle Damage from Flamvell Magician.  If Moua had been able to Summon his Gorz, or had taken Scrap Dragon with Mind Control instead of destroying it with Dark Hole, Joy might’ve needed that Roar later on to win the Duel.

Michael Kohanim (2009 World Championship Competitor)
Moua’s opening turn Mind Control was too aggressive in Duel 2. With 3 cards in Joy’s back row, Moua knew he couldn’t guarantee a successful Synchro Summon with the monster he gained control of, and didn’t even Summon a monster that would let him attempt one. At the end of his turn, Moua ended up giving Joy back the monster he stole with Mind Control. He lost a huge opportunity for a more successful play with Mind Control that could’ve happened later on. Moua would have been much better off saving the Mind Control and simply Summoning his Flamvell Firedog for an attack or Setting his Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter on his first turn.

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